Bookeen Cybook Odyssey review

Can this touch-ready eBook give the Kindle a run for its money?

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Our Verdict

Overall it's a good device, though not quite as slick as the Kindle. It's also quite expensive.

For

Touch screen

Good E-Ink display

Wi-Fi connection

MicroSD

Against

Not as slick as Amazon's eBook

Expensive

With the Kindle, Amazon seems to have a pretty tight hold on ebook readers, having created an attractive and desirable - yet also affordable - product in a market that until then hadn't really been catching people's attention.

This has led to the rest of the market to up its game - no bad thing when this results in products like the Bookeen Cybook Odyssey.

At first glance it looks like a rather standard ebook reader, but dig a little further and you'll find some good features.

The vibrant and clear black and white e-ink display is also touch sensitive, and though it's not as instantly as responsive as the latest tablet PCs, it does a good job and feels quite natural when browsing an ebook.

It also works well with the onscreen keyboard for entering text.

A built-in wireless adapter is another good addition.

It lets you connect to Bookeen's online bookshop, though it's not quite as large as Amazon and the majority of books are in French.